The royal tournament — Ferris

The walls of Salsvale are a welcome sight after a week of travel. Our improvised clothes are rank and sweaty. It will be nice to relax and have a bath.

“What the hell is that?” Zack asks, gesturing towards a large crater that can be seen in the distance.

“What on earth? There used to be a military base there!” Talia exclaims.

“Seems like we missed some stuff,” Ellie says.

A knot forms in my stomach. I can’t shake the feeling that Maribelle might have been involved.

“I’ll need to go check up on my sister,” I say.

“We need to go report to the guild. Grant will be furious if we don’t do that first,” Talia says.

“Fine,” I say.

We reach the gates to find the usual guards standing there. We flash our adventurer tags and they let us through, but not without directing confused stares towards our makeshift clothes.

“Hold on, where is everyone?” Zack asks.

The streets are empty. Salsvale has become a ghost town.

We slowly make our way through the city, concern rapidly building in our hearts. The knot in my stomach becomes tighter and tighter.

When we reach the adventurers guild, it is empty too.

“What the fuck? Where are all the people?” Talia asks.

Suddenly, we hear someone’s footsteps on the street.

“Fuck! I’m gonna be late!”

Running down the street is a teenage boy with curly dark hair and brown eyes. He looks like he could be a merchant’s son. He is carrying a pen and a sketchpad.

“Wait! What’s going on? Where is everyone?” Ellie shouts at him.

“Have you been living under a rock? The royal tournament is today!” He shouts back.

“Oh, we’re idiots,” Ellie says.

“Indeed,” Norton agrees.

“What?” I ask.

“Everyone goes, Ferris. Nobody’s in the streets because they're all in the stands,” Ellie says.

“Well, we might as well go watch. We’re lucky we made it back in time,” Talia says.

“Sure, it’s not like we can check in with the guild right now,” Zack says.

We follow the teenage boy, running with him to the stadium. We reach the stairs of the enormous arena, and the loud roar of thousands of voices can be heard echoing up ahead.

When we emerge into the stands, it is a sight to behold. The arena is big enough to hold nearly the whole city, and the stands are packed.

“I knew it. There’s nowhere to sit,” the boy with the sketchpad says.

“Hey! You people, move over!” Ellie shouts, forcefully squeezing in beside a group of strangers.

Somehow, she manages to make enough room for all of us to sit. I sit down beside the boy with the sketchpad. He places his sketchpad on his lap and starts to draw the packed stadium.

The atmosphere is festive and lively, but the knot in my stomach is not gone.

“What’s your name?” I ask the young man.

“Willow,” he says.

“We’ve been away for a week. Do you know why there was a crater where there used to be a military base?”

He laughs.

“You picked one hell of a week to be out of town,” he says.

“What happened?”

“The Dark Empress happened. She killed the king and waged war on the city. Then, she singlehandedly killed all five members of the kingsguard. Finally, Theonius faced her one on one and emerged victorious, killing her.”

Fuck. Please don’t let this person be Maribelle.

“Who was this Dark Empress?” I ask.

“I met her once, actually, before she attacked the city. She asked me to draw her and we sort of flirted a bit. I had no idea who I was dealing with at the time, of course.”

He flips through his sketchpad, revealing a drawing of a girl. Her face is flushed and she is wearing a frilly dress that shows her knees.

It is unmistakably Maribelle. My stomach drops.

“Ferris, isn’t that your sister?” Ellie asks nervously.

“Your sister?” Willow asks, his eye going wide.

No, maybe it’s a mistake.

“Are you certain it’s her?”

“Yeah, definitely. Her wanted posters were hanging all throughout the city. Eighty million gold.”

“Did they know her name?”

“Of course. Maribelle Ellis,” he says with a strange smirk.

I bury my face in my hands.

While I was gone, Maribelle didn’t just get into trouble, she got into the largest amount of trouble humanly possible.

However, I won’t believe for a second that she is dead. I refuse to believe it.

“She killed the king?”

“With a snap of her fingers, or so they say.”

Yup, it’s definitely her. Damn, she better be okay. She can’t conquer the cosmos if she’s dead.

Suddenly, a booming voice resounds throughout the sky.

“Welcome my subjects, to the twenty fifth royal tournament of Salsvale!”

I raise my head to see Theonius Arvali flying in the sky above the stadium.

The stands erupt in a roar of applause.

“Now, I don’t want to waste your valuable time. We’ll get straight to the action!”

The applause gets louder. The air shakes as thousands upon thousands of voices unanimously cheer for violence.

“It may be hard to believe, but Kevin Valbeck had the audacity to request that my duel with him be this year’s debut. Who am I to refuse?”

The tone of the cheering changes, many people choosing this moment to jeer.

Theonius drops out of the sky, landing in the sand. A crater forms around him, and he draws an enchanted golden sword from the scabbard on his hip.

“So, on that note, I hereby welcome Kevin Valbeck to the stage!”

A gate opens up at the edge of the arena, and Kevin steps out onto the sands.

He is covered from head to toe in shiny enchanted plate armor, a sword sheathed at his hip. His face cannot be seen, but he walks with a confident demeanor, his back straight and proud.

“Perhaps many of you all know why he faces me today. Indeed, he is the only person who can face me. Like myself, he is a hero of the gods. Nobody else can withstand… this!”

With his last word, the breath is taken out of my lungs. The flame within me is extinguished, smothered to almost nothing by an overbearing force of absolute suppression. Every aura in the stands winks out of existence. Only Ellie and I retain a small amount of power.

How can Theonius be this powerful? This is ridiculous!

Maybe he really did kill Maribelle. I feel sick.

Somehow, Kevin doesn’t flinch. He continues to walk towards Theonius, his poise unbroken.

“Good. As I said before, Kevin, I expect to be impressed. Show me your divine power.”

Kevin silently draws his sword. He is far away, but I cannot sense his aura. He seems to be just as suppressed as everyone else, or perhaps what remains of his aura is just too small to notice.

I am proven wrong. In a flash of motion, Kevin dashes across the sand. He moves too fast for my eyes to follow in my suppressed state. I am little more than an ordinary human right now. Without question, my connection to Radius is the only reason that I can retain any power at all.

Kevin, though, is strong. The pressure of Theonius’s power seems to do nothing to him.

Kevin and Theonius meet blades. There is a superhumanly fast exchange of swordsmanship.

It is over in an instant.

Theonius’s sword is sent flying. Kevin’s sword shatters when it slams into Theonius’s head.

There is silence. The crowd is stunned.

Without missing a beat. Kevin tosses the hilt of his sword away, and raises his fist into the air, declaring his victory.

Theonius stares at his opponent in shock for a second or so before his aura surges with rage.

His fist glows with brilliant white light. He throws a punch at Kevin’s head.

Instead of dodging, Kevin tilts his head slightly, offering up his cheek. What on earth?

Hissing with rage, Theonius slams his fist into his opponent's armored face. A terrifying amount of power explodes out of his fist, directed straight into its target. The helmet shatters from the impact, revealing long red hair, a crimson sunflower, and my sister's smirking face.

The devastating force from the blow goes into her face as divine light, and comes out as black lightning. The damage is completely reflected, hitting Theonius in the chest and blasting him backwards. He is sent tumbling through the sand.

Whatever was concealing her aura ceases to do so. The ferocious force that is Maribelle’s spiritual pressure washes over the crowd. It makes me shiver. She looks different, but I can’t quite understand how. Her hair moves slowly in the wind, captivating swirls catching the light. Her eyes glitter with a fierce green. As she breathes, the whole world breathes with her.

Theonius lies on his back. There is a stunned expression on his face and a big bruise on his sternum where Maribelle's lightning struck.

“Welcome to your public execution, Theonius.”

Her voice shakes the world. There is unbelievable power in her words. I have chills.

The crowd explodes in a thousand shrieks of terror and a thousand elated cheers.

The Dark Empress has returned.

“How?! I killed you!” Theonius screams, stumbling up to his feet.

“Is that what you thought? How cute.”

She summons her sword and points it at him. Her armor shatters with a pulse of her magic, revealing the billowing grey robes underneath.

“A slave like you could never be my end,” she says.

“Slave? I am an emperor! What kind of deluded insults are coming out of that mouth of yours?”

“If you are free, then prove it. Can you look up to the heavens and tell Zenath that you have the right to defy him?”

Theonius grits his teeth and clenches his fist.

“I thought so. How pathetic. You call yourself an emperor yet you are nothing more than a tamed dog.”

“Insolent cunt!”

“Yes. I am insolent, but only because I speak the truth. I will one day rule the cosmos, and you will be nothing but an unpleasant memory, a piece of dung that I happened to step on at the beginning of my journey. When Zenath lies defeated before me, and he is begging for his life, I’ll make sure to remind him how insignificant you were.”

“Blasphemy! I will kill you where you stand and prove my place as emperor!”

“Then come, challenger.”

Another layer of rage surges out of Theonius’s aura at Maribelle’s words. He charges at her.

“You’ll die just like she did!”

A giant hammer of brilliant light appears above Theonius’s head.

Maribelle’s eyes glint with fury. Crackling black lightning erupts from her body, concentrating in her sword.

‘Zenath’s Crushing Hammer!’

The hammer of light comes down, slamming into the sands of the arena with terrifying force. The whole stadium shakes with a massive earthquake from the impact. The sand where the hammer lands is vaporized completely, leaving a deep crater.

Maribelle dodges the blow, dashing straight towards Theonius with incredible speed.

Her sword slams into his chest, exploding with a wicked crack of black lightning. A deep gash is cut into Theonius’s torso, and he is sent flying. He smashes into the far wall of the arena.

Theonius pulls himself out of the human shaped hole in the stone wall, glowing with golden light as the wound in his chest heals completely. He hops back down onto the sands.

He scowls, spitting onto the ground.

“I should have just done the same thing as always,” he says.

An updraft forms around Maribelle, carrying her into the air. A swirling ball of wind holds her prisoner in the sky.

Theonius raises his hand, a shining ball of white light forming in his palm, brighter than the sun.

“You’ve tried this twice. How many times has it killed me?” Maribelle asks.

“Go ahead. Run away again like the pest you are,” Theonius says.

“Don’t worry. I’m not running away this time.”

“Good! Then die!”

‘Zenath’s Light.’

A blinding beam of pure white energy blasts out of Theonius’s palm, enveloping Maribelle’s wind prison and parting the clouds above. I gasp. My whole body instinctively cringes in terror. The sheer power released by this attack is not something I could have ever imagined coming from a human. How can Maribelle survive this?

My eyes go wide when Maribelle teleports out of the way of the blast. She appears right behind Theonius, immediately slamming her sword into his head. There is another crack of black lightning and Theonius goes flying again. He tumbles through the sands, the side of his head covered in blood, his skull visible through the wound.

Maribelle teleports into his path and brings her sword down in a brutal overhead swing. Another explosion of black lightning erupts from her blade as she makes contact. Theonius is buried into the sand from the force of her attack.

She reaches down into the sand, pulls theonius out by his neck, and tosses him into the air. She immediately takes a sideways swing with her sword, hitting her foe in the stomach and gutting him as he is once again sent cratering into the arena wall.

Theonius pushes himself out of the wall, glowing with golden light, his wounds quickly healing. He stumbles on the sand, an utterly stunned expression on his face.

“How can you teleport?!”

She smirks.

“Are you scared now that you have to face me without your tricks?”

“Tricks? I don’t need tricks! I am a hero of the gods! I can easily crush a heathen like you!”

“Your words are empty, Theonius, just the ramblings of a man who walks to the gallows.”

Theonius seethes.

‘Zenath’s Holy Saber!’

A slightly curved blade of brilliant divine light appears in his hand.

“I thought we already established whose swordsmanship is superior,” Maribelle says.

“That barbaric blade of yours cannot compare to my heroic manifestation! I can cut your fucking sword in half!”

“Oh, really? Go ahead and try.”

In a flash of movement, Theonius slashes towards Maribelle with his saber of light. Maribelle blocks the attack with her enchanted bone sword. Her bone blade holds, but the resulting shockwave hits like a punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of me. Some of the spectators are even knocked unconscious.

Theonius releases a furious scream, striking again with his shining saber. Maribelle expertly parries his attack, hitting him in the neck with her blade. She cuts a deep gash, but it is not enough to decapitate him. The wound is healed an instant later.

“Your sword skills don’t matter if you can’t land a killing blow!” Theonius screams.

He furiously brings his saber down in an overhead swing.

“Same goes to you,” Maribelle says.

She doesn’t block his attack, instead letting him hit her. His sword slices her right in half in a vertical line from head to toe, but the two halves of her body immediately come back together. The wound that bisected her becomes black lighting that strikes Theonius in the forehead.

There is a loud bang, and Theonius stumbles back, the bloody head wound already healing.

“In that case, this fight is about who can first land an attack powerful enough to completely obliterate the other,” Theonius says.

“I suppose so,” Maribelle agrees.

Theonius smirks.

“Then I have won. Your blows are simply not powerful enough to kill me, but if I land just one attack with a powerful manifestation, it will be over for you. Sooner or later, you will fall.”

For the first time in the fight, Maribelle frowns. Black lightning comes out of her body, coalescing in a ball over her hand.

“I will not fall,” she says.

“Whose words are empty now?” Theonius taunts.

Theonius flies into the air. He floats above the arena, raising his glowing saber over his head. The sword glows brighter and brighter, shining like a thousand suns.

Maribelle stands in place, looking up at him, more and more destruction building up in her orb.

‘Inevitable Justice!’

Theonius throws his gleaming sword down at Maribelle. It flies towards her like a falling star.

She teleports out of the way, but the sword turns in midair, moving straight towards her.

“You cannot escape!” Theonius exclaims victoriously.

Maribelle continues to teleport away from the blade, but the brilliantly shining sword just gets faster and faster, screeching through the air as it hurtles towards her.

“I guess I’ll just have to survive it then,” she says.

She stops in place and raises her sword to block the incoming attack.

I cannot believe it. This flying sword carries an unbelievable amount of power, not quite as much as Theonius’s hammer attack, let alone his light beam, but it is still not something that I can imagine anyone surviving.

The sword strikes Maribelle’s guard, and there is an explosion of epic proportions. I am blasted out of my seat by the shockwave, along with everyone else in the stadium.

My ears are blown out, but my spirit can still hear Maribelle laughing like a maniac. A ridiculous amount of black lightning swirls around her blade. When I look back down towards the arena, I see her smiling viciously.

“Can you survive it though?” She asks her foe.

Theonius widens his eyes in fear.

Maribelle teleports into the sky, stabbing towards her enemy with the power of a cataclysm.

“Fine, Zenath, I’ll do it!” Theonius screams.

As Maribelle’s blade impales Theonius, his palm slams into her chest.

‘Brand of Absolute Judgement!’

There is an explosion of black lightning and a blinding flash of light.

Theonius has been blasted in two, his whole torso obliterated. His legs fall down to the sand while the top half of his body, little more than arms and a head, is sent flying into the sky.

Maribelle teleports down onto the sand of the arena. There is a strange swirling symbol on her chest, glowing brightly through her robes.

Up in the sky, Theonius’s head and arms glow with golden light. His torso, hips, and legs are regenerated in just a few seconds. Glittering robes of white light appear on his new body, presumably to preserve his dignity.

He flies down and lands in front of Maribelle, laughing viciously.

“You are already dead,” he says.

Maribelle cries out in pain, falling to her knees and clutching her chest.

“What is this?!” She screams.

Theonius smirks.

“That brand cannot be removed from your body, and it will soon explode with power beyond any of my other manifestations. Even I don’t know how powerful it will be. The cooldown for this is ten years. Congratulations on pushing me this far.”

“Fuck,” she says.

Theonius cackles, he looks up to the sky as he laughs, and his eyes go wide.

The entire sky is glowing with brilliant white light. A single luminous thread connects Maribelle’s chest to the heavens.

I freeze in place, my whole body shivering. This power is comparable to Malazo’s breath.

Will the city survive this blast?

Trembling, Maribelle climbs up to her feet. Her eyes are filled with determination.

“Still holding on to hope? How foolish. Witness the might of the gods!” Theonius shouts.

The sky screams with power, an unstoppable force building up above. At the same time, her brand thrums with energy and shines with blinding divine light.

Maribelle raises her sword.

“What can you do?” Theonius asks, chuckling.

Maribelle reaches into her robe, pulling out a glowing crystal. It is the life crystal that Cynthia had been wearing.

She holds the crystal between her teeth.

With a decisive slash of her blade, she cuts off her own head. She bites down.

The crystal breaks, releasing an explosion of healing light. Out of her neck, an entire body grows in an instant. A pulse of her magic teleports her robes from her old body to her new one.

A naked and headless corpse falls to the ground, Theonius’s brand of absolute judgement still glowing on its unbreathing chest.

“No!” Theonius screams.

Maribelle teleports away as an enormous pillar of light erupts between the brand and the sky.

The vast majority of the blast’s power is directed straight up, but it doesn’t matter. I am just too close. The light alone makes me go blind, the sound makes me go deaf, and the shockwave shatters every bone in my body. Limp, broken, and dying, I am sent tumbling through rubble as the stadium itself is obliterated completely.

Then, black lighting courses out of me and I am put back together.

The same thing happens for everyone else, and the entire stadium. Chunks of shattered stone coalesce, returning to their original form. People that were blown in half are put back together. Black lightning fills the sky. In just a few seconds, it is almost as if the cataclysmic blast never happened, the only remaining damage being a large hole in the ground where the sand was completely vaporized out of existence.

All of that power concentrates in Maribelle’s sword. The air howls and light is distorted from the unimaginable power that has been concentrated around her weapon.

She teleports right in front of Theonius. His eyes widen with panic and terror.

‘Zenath’s Unbreakable Armor!’

Shining armor forms around his body, completely encasing him. It is an impervious suit of temporary invincibility.

Without hesitation, Maribelle brings her blade down upon him.

“Die,” she says.

Her voice shakes the universe.

There is an old riddle: what wins between an unstoppable force and an unbreakable object?

In this moment, I learn the answer: whichever one comes from Maribelle.

Theonius is dead in an instant. His god’s unbreakable armor shatters like frail glass. Maribelle’s blow crushes him into a paste, and he is smeared across the sand. There is nothing left of him but a long splotch of red across the arena. It is like the remains of an engorged mosquito that was swatted on one’s arm.

Maribelle de-summons her sword and raises both her arms in the air.

“Did you all enjoy the show?” She asks.

There is a long moment of silence. Then, the cheers begin. The applause slowly crescendos until it is deafening. It sounds like the joy of being alive.

How could you not cheer for a girl who just brought you back from the brink of death?